Whitman CPC Backs Historic Plaques, Eyes Hornstra Farm Conservation Grant

WHITMAN -- February 17, 2026, Whitman's Community Preservation Committee rejected a $1.5 million land purchase, approved $4,000 for historic plaques, and signaled support for a conservation restriction on the Hornstra farm. The committee voted unanimously to deny a Conservation Commission application to buy a Bedford Street parcel after a private purchase-and-sale agreement came in at $1.5 million, three times the roughly $500,000 the CPA application had envisioned, and the Select Board declined to exercise the town's right of first refusal. The committee also unanimously approved $4,000 requested by the Whitman Historical Commission for plaques on newly designated historic properties. In an informal temperature check, members expressed strong support for committing up to $250,000 in CPA reserves as a 10 percent local match for a state Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness grant that would place a conservation restriction on the Hornstra farm, the Route 14 property that includes the Peaceful Meadows ice cream stand, permanently protecting the farmland from commercial or residential development regardless of future ownership.